


If You Like It

by Waywardwiz



Category: How I Met Your Mother
Genre: Anal, I couldn't help myself, Kisses, Love, M/M, This is my tenth Barney/Ted story, first comes love, i think, it was only a matter of time before I wrote a marriage proposal-story, maybe I should buy myself a celebratory cake, my soft boys, okay so real tags, then comes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 20:52:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14269308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waywardwiz/pseuds/Waywardwiz
Summary: Okay, so it's exactly what it says in the tags. Barney proposes to Ted while I ugly cry behind my screen."“of course – ah, yeah, that’s, that’s good – of course it’s something you said – ah! – you asked me to marry you, so yes, I’m fucking crying!”His eyes are burning with tears and he is reduced to a soft, sobbing mess, but Barney reaches his hand between them and uses the pad of his fingertip to wipe away his tears, and the ones that escape he captures with his kisses. He moans and whines and gasps a string of filth into Ted’s mouth, carves love letters on his skin that seep through it and into the marrow of his bones. Ted cries out and he can’t help bucking his hips against Barney, all the while clinging to his fiancé (fiancé) for dear life, not letting go, never letting go.





	If You Like It

“Christ, babe, that feels so – “  
“Will you marry me?”  
Ted’s jaw snaps shut in shock and he almost takes out a chunk of Barney’s neck. Barney curses and jostles free, rubbing his bruised skin where an uneven indent of Ted’s teeth is now showing. He winces, but doesn’t draw away from Ted’s embrace, finding comfort in the circle of his boyfriend’s arms. Ted inhales sharply, as he tries to catch up with the wild staccato rhythm thundering in his chest, to clear away the desire clouding his mind so that he can _think_. And then he manages to and realizes that this is just so ridiculous. He is sweaty and gross and his dick is inside Barney, still very much up for continuing what it has been doing even in the wake of this impromptu proposal.  
“Sorry” he gasps, as he leans in and carefully licks at the spot, being extra gentle when Barney hisses in pain. His body is shaking, and Ted’s is, too. It’s like his heart is trembling. It always does that when he is close to Barney, to some degree, but right now...  
Barney laughs in a way that is sort of strained, and when Ted studies his face he sees deep – bone-deep, soul-deep, childhood trauma-deep – vulnerability.

Tightening his grip around his best friend, he hopes to convince the blonde that it’s okay with every soothing touch, that _please, smile for me, I love you_.  
“Of course I’ll marry you” he murmurs softly and bumps their foreheads together so that they are so close that he gets almost cross-eyed in an attempt to meet Barney’s gaze, “I love you”. He doesn’t even know how he musters the words, what with all the _everything_ he has inside him, worries and thrills and frustrations and devotion that has always been for Barney alone, settling all at once like an aching. Then he laughs, because the whole situation is so absurd; it’s just so perfectly Barney to do something this colossally huge while fucking Ted into the armrest of their couch.  
Barney’s smile (the smile that always makes Ted’s heart flutter and his legs go spaghetti) gains some strength, and Ted feels the sweet curve of it against his lips.  
“That’s good”, he whispers, “thank you”  
Ted laughs in disbelief, his outtake of breath rustling Barney’s hair, “did you just thank me for agreeing to marry you? And also, why did you do it during sex?”

Barney’s expression turns slightly defensive, but his eyes are still bright and hopeful, “It was Robin’s idea, she said you’ll say yes to anything when – Ted, why are you crying? Sweetheart, please don’t cry, was it something I – ”  
Ted touches his own face and realizes with a detached sort of amazement when he studies his wet fingertips that he is, in fact, crying. The tears that are making his field of vision runny like an undried water colour painting come from joy, though. That has never happened to him before. _Huh. Would you look at that._  
Barney’s eyes widen and he looks frantic and he clearly doesn’t understand this “I’m crying because you’re making me the happiest man on Earth” – thing that Ted has got going. Ted resolves it by surging in and smashing their mouths together inelegantly with all the grace of an eager teenager about to make first base with his prom date. It’s quick and clumsy and there is tongue everywhere, but Barney is clearly onboard, his sweet moans making warm puffs of air against the insides of Ted’s cheeks. He starts rocking in Ted’s lap again, whimpering when the head of Ted’s dick brushes his prostate, and Ted is digging his fingers into his hips, just holding on and letting Barney set the pace, meeting him halfway. He says in between watery kisses, “of course – ah, yeah, that’s, that’s good – of course it’s something you said – ah! – you asked me to marry you, so yes, I’m fucking crying!”

His eyes are burning with tears and he is reduced to a soft, sobbing mess, but Barney reaches his hand between them and uses the pad of his fingertip to wipe away his tears, and the ones that escape he captures with his kisses. He moans and whines and gasps a string of filth into Ted’s mouth, carves love letters on his skin that seep through it and into the marrow of his bones. Ted cries out and he can’t help bucking his hips against Barney, all the while clinging to his fiancé ( _fiancé_ ) for dear life, not letting go, never letting go. Stars flash in his line of vision, constellations in the same brilliant blue of Barney’s eyes, as his pleasure builds and then crests, orgasm overwhelming him, gently, quietly, intense, and he comes in Barney’s beautiful body. Barney coaxes him through it with his hands and lips and whispers of endearment, and then comes too, lips parted around a silent “oh”.  
Ted falls back onto the pillow, spend and limp, his body a satisfied jumble, and Barney follows, covering Ted’s upper body like a human blanket. They are chest to chest, so close, and Ted feels Barney’s heartbeat like an echo against his own. If he closes his eyes and calms his breathing he imagines that he can almost hear that steady cadence rippling into him through the places where they are connected.

Letting out a little sigh of contentment he hooks his arms around Barney, one hand on his lover’s lower back, rubbing slow circles with his fingertips, and the other clasping the nape of his neck, gently stroking fair hair. He kisses the top of Barney’s head and smiles when Barney hums in satisfaction. As he lies there with the person he loves most in the world wrapped in his embrace, Ted searches for words that will accurately convey to Barney how happy he is right now. He comes up short, and settles instead on massaging a point just above Barney’s tailbone that he knows has been sore since he twisted the base of his spine some weird way during yoga class a few days ago. Ted hadn’t even known that you could pull muscles while moving at turtle speed, but the way Barney has been wincing is just one of the many things that emphasize Ted’s belief that exercise is bad for you.  
Barney groans when Ted hits a particularly tender place, automatically arching into the soothing touch, and says, “You know, I actually had a whole speech planned”  
“Oh?”  
“Yeah. It was very eloquent, and convincing. A ring, too”

“Sounds nice” Ted says conversationally, but feeling his pulse jump with anticipation, “wanna get it for me? I mean, you know what they say; if you like it...”  
He gestures pointedly to his right hand’s ring finger and then to himself, a big, stupid grin pumpkin-splitting his face.   
Barney’s soft laughter is the sweetest thing Ted has ever heard and thankfully he is lucky enough to hear it every single day, “alright, Queen Bey. Sit tight”  
He carefully extracts himself from Ted, the latter lamenting the loss of his solid warmth, and shuffles over to the coat hanger. He looks somehow both hilarious and adorable like this, hair sticking every which way, neck a little flushed, pale skin spattered with faintly purple bruises, curtesy of Ted’s handiwork – and then there is of course the trail of Ted’s cum painting the insides of his thighs a sticky white. Ted snorts in an attempt to cover up a giggle, but Barney hears and says a warning over his shoulder, “you laugh, you don’t get the speech”  
Ted dutifully stifles his snickering. He wants the speech.

Barney nods, big grin on his face, “I thought so”  
He then sticks his hand into the front pocket of his coat and gets out a tiny object – a box, _the_ box, Ted’s mind helpfully supplies – and turns around so that his front is to Ted. He radiates something soft and open, the slender line of his body loose and free of the tension he usually carries in his shoulders. He looks fresh and lovely, as well as other words he would smack Ted over the hit for if he ever heard him using them to describe him. But he would smile, too, and maybe his cheeks would grow red, a pleased little fluster, and that would be worth getting punched in the shoulder. It always is.  
His face must be betraying the adoration he is feeling, because Barney smiles and cockily raises an eyebrow, “see something you like?”  
“You know I do” Ted responds, somehow refraining from rolling his eyes, “so, you want me to stand, or what?”  
Shaking his head, Barney sinks down next to the sofa, somehow maneuvering past the coffee table, one knee on the floor, very classic proposal get-up. A loving smile widens his lips and darkens his eyes, and when he takes Ted’s hand and drops a brief kiss onto the back of it, Ted feels breathless, helpless, defenseless. He squeezes Barney’s hand, and Barney squeezes back, face raw and tender. When Ted looks closer he sees that Barney’s eyes shine with unshed tears, just like his own must surely do. He feels faint, but in the best way possible. He loves this guy so much it almost hurts.

The man at his feet draws in a stuttering breath, and then he speaks, voice so full of devotion that it steals the air from Ted’s lungs, “okay. Ah, fuck, okay. I’m nervous. Just remember that you’ve already said yes. No take-backs”  
Ted says shakily, wondering if a smile can get so big that it gets permanently stuck to your face, “No take-backs, I promise. Give it to me”  
“Oh, I’ll give it to you” Barney says, wagging his eyebrow in a way that makes Ted giggle, and then pushes up a little to push their mouths together. Ted’s lips tingle when he pulls away.  
He says, “I had scotch the night we met. Beer, too. You know how beer goes straight to my bladder”  
Ted chuckles, but doesn’t say anything, because Barney’s speeches are almost always unconventional, and that’s the best thing about them. He knows that this is a moment he will remember as long as he lives, down to every little strange word, down to each emotion flickering rapidly across Barney’s features. He knows Barney so well, every little part of him; the texture of his smile, the shape of his laugh and the cadence of his feet striking the ground. He knows Barney better than he knows himself, just like Barney knows Ted better than anyone in the world.

Barney continues, “and if I hadn’t had those three beers – or four, doesn’t matter – I wouldn’t have gone to the bathroom, and I wouldn’t have met you. I’ve been thinking about that a lot, lately, how it would have been so easy for us to just... pass each other by, you know?”  
He is quiet for a few seconds, briefly overwhelmed. Ted doesn’t rush him. Barney will get there, and they have all the time in the world.  
“But we did. I remember you said that I was “kind of a jackass” when you introduced me to Marshall”  
Ted almost chokes on a chuckle and gently puts a hand on Barney’s cheek, thumb brushing against the sharp ridge of the cheekbone, “how do you remember something like that?”  
Barney shrugs and says, words doing weird things to Ted’s insides, sort of like a sweet spasm of amazement (is that even a thing?) “It was the first time you said my name”  
“Oh”  
_Shit_ , Ted thinks, _this is going to be gooey and romantic. I’m going to cry, I’m such an ugly crier._  
“’Oh’ is right. Now hush, we’re not even halfway finished” Barney informs him, smiling softly as he does so, happiness coloring his ears a charming red, “I don’ know where I would be today if I hadn’t met you. _Who_ I would be today. What I do know is that you’ve made me different from who I was before. I’ve never told you, but you started changing me the moment we met. Not on purpose, but, just, the way you are. You were my first real friend, and you stuck by me no matter what stupid thing I did, how much I fucked up. And I fucked up a lot”  
“Sweetheart – “

Barney’s hand tightens around his, a silent plea for him to not say anything just yet, “But you still let me stay, and you made me want to be better. _Make_ me want to be better. I want to always be better for you”  
The way he looks at Ted sends a delicious shiver down Ted’s back, because there is so much naked yearning in those eyes that he loves so much, “I think I fell in love the moment I saw you, you and your kindness and your smile and your brain and your ass – you have a spectacular ass”  
Ted’s laugh comes out as a watery sob, and he slips down next to Barney on the floor, an inexplicable need for them to be closer pulling him in.  
Barney is crying now, too, tears glistening in the soft lamplight, “I knew I should have written this down, I, I have it in my bag. I can go get it, there are so many things I want to say, it’s like an entire essay – “  
Ted holds on tight to him and shakes his head, “you’re doing fine”. He can’t bear the thought of Barney leaving, even if only for a moment. He doesn’t know how he will ever let him go.

“You’re right, you can read it later. Where was I at?”  
“My ass”  
“Oh, yeah, your ass. It’s wonderful. _You’re_ wonderful, and I love you so, so much, and I want you to marry me, please. I’m – “  
His voice cracks on a sob, “I, Teddy – I am deeply, ridiculously in love with you. I’d like to spend the rest of my life with you, If you’ll have me”  
Ted clasp Barney’s face between his hands and presses their foreheads together, before desperately murmuring into Barney’s mouth, “I’ll have you, I’ll always have you, you know I will...”  
“Yeah, yeah” Barney’s smile tilts and his glistening eyes spark with mischief so familiar to Ted that it helps his heart settle and his breathing come a little easier, “I’ll even throw in a cool ring to sweeten the deal”  
Laughter bubbles in Ted’s chest and makes it out through his mouth, where it is swallowed up by Barney’s kisses.  
“So...” Barney whispers, the sincerest smile Ted has ever seen highlighting the dimples in his cheeks, “marry me. Please?”  
“Yes” Ted cries, and he can barely hear his own words for the roaring in his ears, “yes, yes, I will”  
And he kisses Barney, again and again and again, and when he is momentarily done with his mouth he starts scattering kisses on every part of his boyfriend’s face available to him; cheeks, nose, forehead, all of it. Barney reciprocates enthusiastically, and soon they are a tangle of limps and love and touch. Just as they are about to be lost in each other Barney reluctantly pulls away, much to Ted’s protest, and says, “the ring, you should put on the ring”  
“I will. Where is it?”

Barney scans the floor around them and finds the little box hidden away halfway beneath the couch. He presses it into Ted’s chest. There’s a slight tremor in his hands, but it stops when Ted covers them with his own. Gently he takes the case from Barney. He carefully flips the lid. A sigh tumbles from his lips as he looks at the ring. It’s perfect. A simple gold band lined with a delicate line of tiny diamonds.  
“God, Barney...” he barely recognizes his own voice.  
“Look at the inscription” Barney instructs him.  
Ted does, tilting the ring so that he can study the inside of the ring properly. There is a message scrawled in neat little letters, spelling out, _You are the love of my life. Everything I have and everything I am is yours. Forever._ It’s a tight fit, but somehow Barney managed it.  
“Wow”  
Barney smiles smugly, “yeah, I could be a poet”  
“You could” Ted admits, “can I put it on?”  
“What didn’t you get about my incredibly profound speech? Let me know where I lost you”

Ted giggles, tasting salty tears when he licks his lips, “No no, I got it”  
He gingerly picks up the ring and puts it on, admiring it as it slips into place on his finger. It looks good. Better than good. Barney got it for him. Ted leans in and kisses his fiancé, slow, lingering. His hands find their way into Barney’s hair as he moves in close, pressing their bodies together. Barney embraces him indulgently, and as their mouths move together in a lazy dance, Ted’s entire body hums softly, love filling him, moving in him, laying him bare, vulnerable, unguarded; there, in Barney’s arms, is where he belongs. He whispers against Barney, “I love you, future Mr. Mosby”  
“I love you, too, future Mr. Stinson”  
Their laughter mingle sweetly between their mouths, and Ted says, “we’re going to have to work that one out”  
“Hmm” Barney agrees, “Mosby-Stinson?”  
“Mosby-Stinson. I like that”  
“Good” Barney says, and climbs into Ted’s lap, sprawling over him, a miracle of smooth skin and dazzling smiles, “wanna go again?”  
“I thought you’d never ask”  
They don’t talk for a while after that.


End file.
